AMN

UN-GuterresUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Christine Schraner Burgener of Switzerland as his new special envoy on Myanmar. Until her appointment, Burgener was the Ambassador of Switzerland to the Germany since 2015.

The announcement of Burgener’s appointment comes as the Security Council sends a mission to Iraq, Bangladesh, and Myanmar from April 26 to May 2.

Peru, Kuwait and the United Kingdom will co-lead the visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar. Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the UN hopes the visits will help refocus the attention of the international community on the plight of the Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh and the continuous need to fund the humanitarian operations.

Since August 2017, nearly 700,000 minority Muslim Rohingyas have fled violence in Myanmar across the border into Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, joining several hundred thousand more that were already settled there in overcrowded camps.